Imaizumi Shunsuke
Imaizumi Shunsuke is a high school student and a member of the Sohoku High Bicycle Club. He has been cycling competitively since middle school. Imaizumi is an all-rounder and he uses his sharp, logical thinking to strategize in races, though he becomes quite hot-blooded when driven into a corner. His dream is to become the fastest cyclist in the world. Appearance Imaizumi has spiky black hair and dark, "thin" eyes. He is often seen in his biking outfit, school uniform, or usagi brand T-shirts (which he collects). He is considered handsome by his many fangirls. Personality Imaizumi generally behaves quite seriously and very quiet around classmates and girls, though he gets worked up when angry or finds himself at a loss. At first, he is prideful and obsessed with winning races on his own in order to eventually beat Midousuji, but once he meets Onoda, Naruko, and the rest of the Sohoku cyclists, his personality begins changing into one more accepting of the strength of a team's will. During the Inter High races, he faces the complex he developed after losing to Midousuji and learns to rely on and believe in his teammates. Plot History In the anime, Imaizumi is given an original backstory. When he was younger, he had no social outlet in school, avoiding the other students, and seemed disinterested in everything. However, his butler, Takahashi, took him to Kanzaki Tooji's shop to look at potential bikes for his birthday. Imaizumi eyed the blue Scolt bike hanging on the wall, and Tooji noticed. Tooji gave him a smaller road bike to try out. Imaizumi ended up disappearing for two hours as he rode it around, which panicked Takahashi, but Tooji didn't mind. Imaizumi loved riding the bike so much that he bought it and entered his first race. Right away, the noise of the pack bothered him, so Imaizumi aggressively broke away from the pack to ride at the front where it was quieter, and won the race, much to everyone's surprise. Meeting Onoda Imaizumi is introduced in Ride 1 when the car he is being driven in accidentally bumps into Onoda Sakamichi on the way to their first day at school. His startled driver, Takahashi, approaches Onoda and is further surprised that the boy appears to be unscathed and thinks nothing of the incident because he falls off his bike so often. They apologize to each other as Takashi is called back to the car by Imaizumi. Being impatient and tired from morning practice, Imaizumi in disbelief when he hears that someone had been riding a city bike on a slope as steep as the back gate's, an incline greater than 20%, imagining they could only be pushing their limits. However, Onoda shows no signs of strain and is left smiling as Imaizumi leaves. As another first year student newly attending Sohoku, Imaizumi is seen preparing to go riding after classes. Although intending to join the school's cycling club, he has yet to turn in his application and greet the club's seniors, suspecting that ignorant first-years will soon drop out from the physical strain of practice. He's stopped by a female student from his middle school, who comments on his second-place finish at the finals. Imaizumi ignores her without comment but thinks there's no glory in finishing second. He vows to defeat Midousuji at the Inter High. Imaizumi, ready to start practice, and Onoda, ready to go to Akihabara, unknowingly line up beside each other at the back gate on their bikes. A startled Imaizumi asks who Onoda is, and the boy introduces himself. Onoda's given name, Sakamichi, is unusual to Imaizumi because of it's connection to hills, but he dismisses Onoda's introduction and tells him (despite not being one to worry about others) that the back gate slope is too dangerous because while shorter than the main gate's route, the incline is much steeper, and if not able to break, a bike's speed can hit 80km per hour downhill. After hearing of the boy's intended destination, he reminds Onoda that the Sobu Train Line is closer if going through the main gate, to which Onoda replies that he's going the full trip to Akihabara by bike, but Imaizumi curtly takes off with a warning not to get in his way. Thinking himself alone, Imaizumi is in disbelief yet again to hear that an otaku is going to Akihabara by bike, speaking aloud. Onoda suddenly appears behind him to continue their conversation. Imaizumi yells at him not to follow and that it's too dangerous to ride down the slope, but Onoda tries anyway and while explaining his reasons for riding, ends up falling off his bike. Imaizumi stops and runs to help Onoda, but the boy simply smiles up at him and says that he's going by bicycle because it's free: the money he saves from not using the bus nor train can be used for capsule toys instead. Imaizumi, dumbfounded, disregards Onoda entirely, thinking him an idiot for riding a 45km trip from the school to Akihabara, which takes an hour by car. Although he wonders about Takahashi telling him the student they hit that morning was riding up the slope like it was nothing, Onoda's sudden panic over his missing wallet leads Imaizumi to abandon Onoda there as just an airhead. A short while later, Imaizumi is practicing by riding up the back gate's slope; he reflects on how riding uphill is about conserving power, reducing weight, and having rhythm, and thinks of his loss to Midousuji, who overtook him with a five minute lead while going uphill over three slopes. Calculating all the variables in his mind, he notes how the slope keeps getting steeper. To his surprise, he spies someone ahead of him, but is unable to determine if it's one of the seniors from the cycling club. Imaizumi considers himself better than when he lost, and decides to overtake the rider ahead of him as a test. As he approaches, Imaizumi hears them singing, and feels insulted, speeding up until he's beside them and notes how slow the rider is moving. At that moment, he realizes that the rider is in fact Onoda singing his favorite anime's theme song while climbing the slope on his city bike with ease to retrieve his wallet. Upon being caught singing, Onoda is startled and embarrassed. Imaizumi's chase leaves him baffled, and with a pulled muscle. That night, Imaizumi trains vigorously on the rollers at his house, 20 sets of 60 second sprints, until he falls off his bike from exhaustion, driven purely by his desire to defeat Midousuji Akira. When he showers afterward, he thinks back on Onoda, and decides that whether the boy's abilities were a fluke or not, he refuses to lose to anyone, and will become the fastest person in the world. Imaizumi searches for Onoda's bike after school the next day but can't find it. He wonders if it's been sent in for repairs. Eventually, he finds Onoda, shaken and yelling with frustration, inside the school after a physical education teacher tore up Onoda's anime club recruitment poster. Ignoring the boy's distraught state, Imaizumi claims they have a score to settle. Imaizumi Shunsuke vs. Onoda Sakamichi Race Imaizumi is shown to be serious about cycling, as he immediately plans to attend the Inter High. He also puts himself through intense daily training, revealing that he cycles 70 km, sometimes over 90 km (the distance of a return trip between high school and Akihabara, which was Onoda's weekly trip) every day. After meeting Onoda on the intense slope of the "back-gate hill" when they were both riding, he decides to challenge him to a race. Imaizumi is interested in Onoda's high cadence climbing style, and uses the race as a chance to test him. To his surprise, he ended up getting serious because Onoda actually caught up to him a few times, despite the self-imposed 15-minute handicap and tripping on the gutter, Imaizumi was still the victor. After the race, he let Onoda keep the cheap-model cycling computer. Skills and Techniques He is an all-rounder cyclist who is good at both sprinting and climbing. He's the type of guy who manages himself by shifting gears often. He shows the ability to devise tactics and use logic in order to achieve victory. He works to assist the ace, Kinjou, another all-rounder. He used to ride emotionally and like to shove competitors aside just so he can get his 'peace, quiet and clear air' as a leader and champion. As he trained at the 1000km Training Camp, Imaizumi had to ride his bicycle without gearshifters. As a result, he now feels like he can move his bicycle to his bidding. Near the end of the 3rd day of Interhigh, his abilities were fully awakened, resulting in the defeat of his ultimate rival Midousuji. Just before then, spectators realized that he also has quick reactions, that he was able to block Fukutomi. After the Inter High, Imaizumi's road bike was given a new Scott frame and motorized gear shifters. This allows him to shift gears much faster and with a simple light touch. Relationships Onoda Sakamichi Imaizumi was the first cyclist to stumble upon Onoda, who was easily riding his heavy city bike (12kg heavier than a racing bike, especially considering his small and frail build, and riding at a high cadence (60-70 rotations per minute, on par with a typical city bike on flat land)) up the "back-gate hill" at Sohoku High, and was shocked to see him casually singing while doing so. Because of this, he challenges Onoda to a race, promising that he will join the Anime Club if he loses. Imaizumi ends up winning, but Onoda pushed him to use his dancing technique in order to beat him. Imaizumi later suggests that Onoda should join the bicycle racing club, although he says he is not forcing Onoda to do so. Imaizumi even wishes Onoda luck in finding members to rebuild the anime club and passed the word around about it. Onoda admires and respects Imaizumi, and Imaizumi was gracious in defeat when Onoda won the King of the Mountains title during the First Year Welcome Race. During the earlier part of the series, being able to reach Imaizumi's level of skill was one of the main reasons Onoda trained so hard to become a better cyclist. Also, according to the some bonus clips at the end of each episode of the anime, after hearing Onoda sing the main theme and gift him merchandise, Imaizumi is shown to gradually develop a liking to Love Hime; he even goes to see the movie with Onoda and to an anime convention with him, and he sings the main theme in the bath. When Onoda is questioned on it, Imaizumi confirms that Onoda has sung the correct lyrics in the sauna. He's backed Onoda up before outside of that - believing that Onoda called his mother to record anime episodes for him, even when Naruko teased him and thought he was calling his girlfriend. Naruko Shoukichi Naruko and Imaizumi have a relationship as rivals that started from their very first meeting on the day of the First Year Welcome Race, in which Imaizumi won despite both losing to Onoda after the mountain stage. Imaizumi became the leader of the first years. They are often seen competing in and outside of club activities. The two have also been referred to as a "duo", nicknamed "the redhead and the giant" by other students in the school. Of course, the two do not appreciate being seen as a set, and are vocal in their opposition of this perception. Initially, Imaizumi and Naruko had little regard for each other, as they were too wrapped up in their individual success. As the series progresses, they are seen together more frequently and their behavior becomes more playful than truly hostile. During the Inter High, Naruko expresses the desire to win together with the team, Imaizumi included. Kinjou Shingo While Kinjou appreciated his leadership qualities and not be intimidated to speak to upperclassmen, as a fellow all-rounder and captain of the team, Imaizumi found difficult to keep up with Kinjou in the first race before training camp where they paired up to race around the school. Kanzaki Miki Miki is a childhood friend of Imaizumi's. When they first met, she instantly shares with him that she adores bicycles. Though Imaizumi is sometimes frustrated by Miki's actions, such as when she invites spectators to his first race against Onoda, they have maintained a friendship throughout the years. Presently, Miki is pleased about the positive changes she has seen in Imaizumi's personality since he has joined the bicycle club. Midousuji Akira Imaizumi mentions his desire to defeat Midousuji very early on, and seems obsessed with the idea. He suffered a humiliating loss to Midousuji in the past when Midousuji told him that his mother died, causing him to lose speed and effectively lose the race. During the Inter High opening ceremony, Midousuji makes fun of Imaizumi being gullible enough to believe him and calls him "Yowaizumi" (yowai means weak). Midousuji seems to enjoy taunting Imaizumi quite a bit. When Midousuji tells Imaizumi that he never even considered him a worthy opponent, Imaizumi is mortified and even sheds tears. Up until that point, he saw defeating Midousuji as his only goal in the Inter High. Sugimoto Terufumi After becoming a second year, Sugimoto asks Imaizumi to help him as he trains with the goal of making it to the Inter High. After seeing that Sugimoto is serious, Imaizumi accepts the role of a mentor. Imaizumi actually begins to be quite supportive of Sugimoto, who is deeply grateful for this as he has a lot of admiration for Imaizumi. Teshima Junta Trivia ;Likes : Riding at the front of the pack : Quiet environments : Watching waves at the beach when no one else is around Dislikes Losing Crowds ;Collects : Cycling caps from all of the European teams : Hats : Usagi brand t-shirts ;Best subject : Classical Japanese ;Misc * He is often seen wearing earphones, but he is listening to movie soundtracks. Gallery Imaizumi.Shunsuke.full.1565241.jpg|Anime concept art. imaizumi1.png imaizumi2.png imaizumi onsen.png imaizumimovie.png|Movie concept art. Category:Male Characters Category:Cyclists Category:Students Category:All-rounders Category:Astrological sign: Taurus Category:Blood type: A Category:Sohoku High Bicycle Club